"That's right, it's a demon!" Precht poised his fingers like a sword and swung forward fiercely, "Devour those fairies! My demons!"
Dozens of pitch-black monsters came attacking the Fairy Tail members in small groups, some with incredible defense, some could shoot magic bullets, and others could extend their limbs, employing a variety of attack methods.
Erza wielded her sword to fight back, only to find facing these creatures somewhat overwhelming.
Even Laxus and Kildas felt similarly uncomfortable.
It wasn't because these demons were particularly strong, but because they were formed from magic power that embodied despair and fear.
They naturally invoked disgust.
The only one moving freely was Mira.
She even instantly dispelled her Receiving Magic, returning to her usual form.
Mira, dressed casually, nimbly weaved through the demons, punching one here and slapping another there as she passed by.
Like a butterfly gracefully dancing through a thorn bush.
"Beautiful moves, but such weak attacks..." Precht found something awry as he spoke.
Until Mira touched each demon once with her hand, she stood outside the circle and gave Precht a gentle smile.
A demon swung its claw at her, but the next moment it exploded with a bang and crumbled into dust.
Precht realized something was wrong: "What?"
Soon after, dozens of demons exploded one after another, all disintegrating into dust.
Mira maintained her confident smile, her hair and clothes billowing in the wind.
Rhode commented on how cool she was.
Precht was a bit flustered: "What did you do?!"
Mira replied with a smile: "Receiving."
"Impossible!" Of course, Precht could tell Mira was using Receiving Magic, but to his knowledge, Receiving Magic shouldn't have this effect at all.
"It's quite simple." Mira said, "Each demon had a portion of its power received by me, so their magic power and 'life' are under my control. Making them explode is no big deal."
"..." He wondered if that could really be called simple. Precht had some understanding of Receiving Magic, but receiving is receiving, and controlling is controlling.
What she just said about 'receiving a portion of the power and then controlling the opponent,' had the benefit of absorbing power without completely defeating the opponent's 'will.'
The drawback is not being able to gain all the abilities of the receiving target.
But even with such a drawback, this method had only theoretical feasibility; he had never heard of anyone truly accomplishing it.
Rhode and Erza were not surprised because Mira had displayed this skill when dealing with Lalabai.
So they found it only natural.
But only someone like Precht, who had deeply studied the principles of magic, would know how difficult it was.
Kildas laughed heartily: "Judging by his expression, our little Mira seems to have accomplished something extraordinary."
Not understanding the principle, but understanding the expression.
The others burst into laughter, except for Precht, who was unhappy.
"Don't get too cocky, the premise of Receiving is 'understanding,' just now, those were simply constructed demons, watch closely, next comes... Chapter 5, Section 7, Inner Magic: Celestial Punishment!"
A stronger wave of magic power surged from Precht, forming a giant purple-black vortex above his head.
Various things like soil, stones, leaves, and branches were drawn in, swirling around the vortex.
Cracks appeared once more around him, resonating with the vortex, and finally, four larger and taller demons emerged from the cracks.
The four demons' feet just touched the ground, immediately creating web-like cracks.
They howled, their terrifying voices echoing through more than half of Celestial Wolf Island, scaring the already anxious animals into frantically fleeing from their hiding spots.
Mira gently raised her hand, four invisible dark forces entered her palm, and amidst the howls, the four demons dissipated into the wind.
"You're right, understanding is indeed the premise of Receiving." Mira casually commented, "The structure of these is ten times more complex than the previous ones. However, compared to real demons, it's still far from enough."
Precht stared with wide eyes and an open mouth, his proud smile from creating these demons not completely gone yet, now appearing somewhat stiff.
His mindset had taken a huge hit.
This was a magic he had painstakingly researched for years, the inner magic from Jellal's Book, which he considered the pinnacle of the current Demon Path.
Since mastering Inner Magic, he had never been defeated.
The most unbearable thing was that such profound magic had been casually dispelled by a little girl.
"Die... die!" Precht, seemingly crazed, hurled a giant black magic ball larger than a person at Mira.
Mira instantly received Demon Hutley, clenched her fist, and charged at the magic ball.
The magic ball exploded instantly, yet Mira emerged from the explosion, black magic on her fist, striking heavily at Precht's cheek.
Precht's face contorted as he flew backward, while Mira withdrew her fist and playfully asked, "How does it feel to be hit by your own power?"
Makarov recalled the young girl who once thought she was possessed by a demon.
She had once weakly asked him to help exorcise the demon, but now, she could use such power to protect her companions.
The old man smiled with relief, then his fist enlarged instantly, slamming Precht into the ground.
To quickly sense the 'core' location, the others followed up with attacks.
Smashing, lightning, sword light, all connected seamlessly.
Precht's cries of pain echoed, while Rhode closed his eyes tightly, then opened them a moment later, clutching his pendant: "Summoning, Canyon Vanguard!"
A massive purple monster appeared out of thin air, charging swiftly under Rhode's command.
But its direction wasn't toward Precht.
Precht, engulfed in magical lights, panicked internally — it was heading towards his ship!
Although there were some guards left on the ship, he knew their strength very well, and there was no way they could be a match for this giant creature!
"Damn kid..."
Precht's eyes bulged with rage, and in a furious burst of magic power, two pitch-black chains, even stronger than before, flew out, shattering Erza's armor and piercing Laxus's left shoulder.
Erza flew back, crashing into Mira, and Laxus gritted his teeth, grasping the chain with his right hand, surging lightning spreading along the chain to Precht.
The expression of determination and ferocity after being hurt reminded Precht of an old friend.
Right, this lightning kid... was Yuri's great-grandson...
"Laxus!" Makarov, anxious for his grandson, concentrated a light arrow over two meters long with both hands, whistling as he shot it towards Precht's left side.
Kildas felt ashamed for letting the kids get hurt in front of him, so his furious attack with Smashing Magic targeted Precht's right side.
The attacks reached simultaneously, and at this moment, a rumbling explosion echoed from afar, flames soaring into the sky!
Precht's face showed an expression of shock and despair: "So fast..."
Meanwhile, Rhode was also a bit confused — the Vanguard shouldn't have arrived yet, who did that?